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Miami Twice
When Cassandra is unable to go to Miami with Rodney, Del kindly steps in, but the brothers run into a little trouble with the Ochetti Crime Family. Synopsis Part 1: The American Dream A few months after his birth, Damien Derek Trotter, son of Del Boy and Raquel, is christened in a church, much to Rodney's horror. Shortly after Damien's christening, Del concludes a deal with the vicar to sell "pre-blessed" communion wine from Romania. The vicar will bless lorry loads of wine, which will then be sold to churches all over Britain since "it's nearly 1992." Meanwhile, Rodney is slowly patching things up with Cassandra by staying with her on weekends, and has learned from Alan that having resigned from his job with Parry Print Ltd. in "The Chance of a Lunchtime", Rodney can now claim his pension money. A few days later, at Sid's café, Del tells Rodney about how he can get him and Cassandra back together instantly: a holiday in Miami, for which Del has already bought tickets with Rodney's pension money. Del's "pre-blessed" wine deal also becomes problematic; the wine he intends to use turns out to be Romanian Riesling, which is white and inappropriate for communion. A furious Rodney returns home later that night, having learned that Cassandra has important meetings with her bosses at the bank that week and thus cannot go with him. Despite Rodney's initial hostility to the idea, Del (with a little prodding from Raquel) persuades his brother to let him with him go instead. And so, the Trotter Brothers board their plane to America (after comically bumping into Richard Branson), not knowing what they're going to get themselves into... Part 2: Oh To Be In England With Del and Rodney having arranged a holiday to Miami, this chapter takes place predominantly in that location. It emerges that boss of a local mafia family, a Don Corleone parody named Don Vincenzo "Vinny the Chain" Ochetti, is on trial and facing life imprisonment for murder, kidnapping and drug trafficking. Ochetti is also a doppelgänger for Del. When his son Rico is with members of the family in a bar, they spot Del. Befriending him and Rodney, they hatch a plot to assassinate Del with the intention of fooling everyone into thinking that the Don himself has been murdered, thus sparing him the trial and likely imprisonment. After arranging for their camper van to be robbed, the group invite Del and Rodney to stay at the family mansion. Over the following days, several attempts to assassinate Del, including shooting him in a beach-side restaurant and sending him off on a jet ski with a broken throttle, prove unsuccessful. Whilst browsing around the family mansion, Del inadvertently stumbles on information about Ochetti and what they're trying to do after being led into a meeting with two Colombian drug barons by Rico, who mistook Del for his father. Meanwhile, Rodney gets in touch with Cassandra and during their conversation learns that Del knew Cassandra would be unable to go on holiday that particular week and therefore booked it to wangle himself a free holiday with Rodney's pension money. A furious Rodney bumps into Ochetti and, believing him to be Del, shoves him up against the wall and promises to make him pay. However just after the confused Don leaves, Rodney meets Del, who admits to Rodney that he wanted to run away from Britain to avoid repercussions from the church for selling them the white wine, and also informs him of Rico and the family's true nature. Realising he's just threatened the head of a mafia family, Rodney agrees to quickly leave, and the Trotter Brothers escape through the window and flee, ultimately ending up in the Everglades, dodging the gangsters and a vicious alligator where they meet the holidaying Boycie and Marlene. Despite being shot at by the gangsters, they manage to escape. After pinning the drug dealing papers on the park ranger station's door, the Trotter Brothers go straight to the airport and wait there until their return flight to Britain, where it is revealed on a news programme that Ochetti had been found guilty on all counts. Upon returning home, Del and Rodney find stacked boxes of white wine in their flat, as well as a relieved Raquel and Uncle Albert. Featured characters * Del Boy * Rodney * Uncle Albert * Raquel * Cassandra * Damien * Mike * Boycie * Marlene * Tyler * Denzil * Trigger * Alan Parry * Pamela Parry * Mickey Pearce * Sid * Don Vincenzo Occhetti * Rico Occhetti * Pauly * Gino * Lurch * Señor Alberto Vasquez * Jorge Harrera * Richard Branson * Barry Gibb Other notes Story arc * Outside The Nag's Head after Damien's christening, Cassandra tells Rodney that she is not dressing up as a Victorian maid for anyone. This foreshadows what happened in Rodney's futuristic nightmare of Peckham in 2026 in "Heroes and Villains" when Cassandra dresses up as a maid after Damien bought out her bank. Production goofs * Rodney and Cassandra are seen in the beer garden of the Nag's Head with benches, soft lights, and patio. Yet the carpark in "Dates" when the police pull up to the rear of the Nag's Head looks a little different. Miscellaneous trivia * Del mentions Rodney's "Maxwell money", a reference to the scandal surrounding British businessman Robert Maxwell, who "borrowed" large sums of money from his employees' pension funds. * When Rico introduces himself to Del and Rodney in the nightclub, the background music is "Killer" by Seal, prophecising his intentions towards Del. DVD cuts and edits * This episode of Only Fools and Horses is something of an anomaly in the series. The episode is shot entirely on film, and is without a laugh track. There is also incidental music throughout the episode, which is not normally used on the show. It is one of only two episodes to be shot entirely on film (the other being "To Hull and Back" although, unlike that episode, the Nag's Head and Trotter flat sets do not have an extra wall), only three without a laugh track (the others being "To Hull and Back" and "A Royal Flush"), one of three not to use the regular closing music (the others being "The Jolly Boys' Outing" and "Rodney Come Home") and the only episode after the first season not to use the regular opening titles and theme music, instead opting for a cover of The Lovin' Spoonful song "Summer in the City", recorded by The Gutter Brothers. The only on-screen mention of "Only Fools and Horses" in this episode appears at the very end of the closing credits, only the "Miami Twice" name appears in the opening titles. For the 1998 VHS release, the episode was titled "Miami Twice: The Movie" and the two episodes were combined into one, with the on-screen titles & credits removed from the second episode (presumably by using the original 16mm footage, rather than the master videotape of the episode) and a laugh track added (often drowning out dialogue). The end credits are also remade, including the credits for both episodes and carrying the 1997 BBC logo. This version was also used for the 2003 DVD release, though it has never been broadcast. * The following bits were cut from the 2003 DVD Region 2 release: ** Part 1: *** The final exchange betwen Del and Rodney before they get on the plane. ** Part 2: *** The original song at the start of this scene where Del and Rodney are on the plane was "Rockin' All Over the World" by Status Quo. This was replaced by "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears For Fears. Most dialogue is intact apart from a brief section when Del removes his headphones. On the broadcast, he says, "Oh!" On the DVD, the sound of him laughing at the start of the scene is noticeably repeated in its place. *** Del and Rodney meet the Mafia at the nightclub and the following lines are cut. ("Killer" by Adamski and Seal is on the original soundtrack at this point, but this does not seem to be why the cut has been made as other music tracks in this episode have simply been replaced. It is possible that the track was actually being played at the time of filming, and so the dialogue could not be isolated. This track continued originally over the next scene of Lurch breaking into Del and Rodney's camper van.) Miami Twice Category:Episodes Category:Special Episodes (Only Fools And Horses)